The present invention relates first of all to a process for supplying an operation station with a succession of articles guided along a defined path and for removing said articles from said operation station along a similar path, in which, in a first phase, an acceleration is communicated to each article.
It also relates to a device for implementing this process.
This invention may be used in all industries in which it is required to control rapidly a batch of articles of small dimensions, in particular fragile articles, in which an operation station allows at least one characteristic of each article for example to be identified or measured for rapid sorting thereof, for example.
It has a great interest in the industry for manufacturing smokers articles, mainly for measuring the characteristics of filters, rolls of tobacco, cigarettes, cigars.
In this kind of industry, difficulties are met with in handling the articles at high speed without losing the required accuracy for checking the weight for example. It often happens that it is desirable to use the same apparatus for measuring the characteristics of articles of the same general shape but having important variations in their geometrical characteristics. In particular, in the tobbaco industry, the length of the articles may be modified considerably.
One of the aims of the invention is to provide a device for supplying an operation station for example for identifying or measuring at least one characteristic of a batch of similar articles following a defined path, for example substantially rectilinear and for removing said articles from said station following a similar path, at a very high rate and with the minimum of shocks during handling.
Another aim of the invention is to provide a simple and inexpensive device capable of being adapted or automatically adapting itself to an appreciable variation in the dimension of the article in the direction in which this article travels through the device.
Another aim of the invention is to be able to rapidly or automatically modify the positioning of the article in the measuring or identification station depending on the characteristics of the article, for example its length, the distribution of its mass.